Victory or Death
by Knife Hand
Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover. Chapter 8 up.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

* * *

"Alright, I have with me a spokesperson from Games Workshop in regards to their latest product. Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse Online, or more commonly referred to as WAO. Now WAO is the first major game for the new Full Dive technology, so for all our viewers out there who have been living under a rock for the last year, tell us what it is about." The reporter said.

"Well, as anyone who has ever played Warhammer 40K knows, 'in the grim darkness of the future, there is only War!'. This is not just a tag line but the whole philosophy behind the game, and this has translated over into WAO." The Games Workshop representative replied. "As most people know, there are three playable factions. The Imperium, the vastness of humanity; The Eldar, an ancient but fading race of technologically advanced aliens; and Chaos, humans who have fallen under the sway of the Ruinous Powers. We have just finished a six month beta test with forty thousand volunteers, and now we are doing the world wide first release of four hundred thousand copies, ninety-nine per cent of which were sold in pre-order."

"Now there has been much debate, and a fair bit out outrage, that the games two most iconic forces, the Space Marines and the Chaos Space Marines, are not playable races and, rumour has it, do not appear in the game at all. What do you have to say to the critics about this?" the reporter asked.

"It was a tough call for Games Workshop, and our partners, when we were developing the game not to have Space Marines or Chaos Marines as playable characters. In fact the debate was almost as long and bloody as the game in regards to which races the player should be able to choose as everyone has their own favourites. In the end it was decided to leave the Marines out for the purposes of having a fair and balanced game. Given the relative rareness of Space Marines in the game's Lore, there being approximately one Space Marine for every planet in the Iperium, and the massive martial discrepancy between a Space Marine and, for example, an Imperial Guardsman, even the presence of a single Space Marine or Chaos Marine Player in a battle would basically guarantee victory for that side." The representative replied.

"Well you heard it here, folks." The reporter said, turning away from the representative to look directly into the camera. "Love or hate their decision, but it looks like the developers were more concerned with having a fair and enjoyable gaming experience for their players than going for the wow factor of having a chance to play as a Space Marine."

* * *

Jennifer Smith looked up at the clock display in the top left corner of her NERV Gear. She had been waiting for this moment for over a year, ever since she had first heard about WAO. She live in London, the home country of Warhammer 40K, and she had grown up playing against her father. He had been an avid Tau player while she had been a great Imperial player, mostly her Imperial Guards, where her favourite units were her Elite Storm Troopers, but she would also, on a regular basis, bring out her Sisters of Battle, the only pure female force in the game, despite their tumultuous history of radically changing Codex's and their expensive metal models.

The clock ticked over to one pm and she called out 'Link Start' and watched the stream of colours and then the checks of all senses going to 'OK'. She logged into the system and came to the character creation 'screen'. Floating in front of her was three figures in order to choose her race. To the left was a solid and martial looking human, in the middle was the slightly taller and fine featured Eldar while to the right was a ragged, stooped man with a chaos symbol carved into his chest, with 'Imperium', 'Eldar' and 'Chaos' floating over their heads. Without hesitation she reached out and touched the imperial human figure to choose her race.

The figures disappeared and were replaced with three different human figures. One the left the figure was cloaked in a long, hooded red robe with the title 'Mechanicum' above it. The middle figure was dressed in fatigues, with a set of body armour, helmet and holding a Lasrifle, and was labelled 'Imperial Guard'. The figure on the right was dressed in black slacks, black shirt and a red trimmed black coat and was labelled 'Scholar Progenium'. Again without hesitation she selects the 'Scholar Progenium', the training school for the Storm Troopers, the Sisters of Battle and the Imperial Commissars. The figures again disappeared and were replaced with two figures dressed in the Scholar Progenium uniform. With some hesitation, she finally selected the male figure, with the logic that while many of the male players will probably select female avatars, the male avatars would be more respected. That and she wanted to play as a Storm Trooper and only male characters could be Storm Troopers.

After manipulating her avatar's looks, making it look like a slightly taller than average, plain but competent looked man with a slightly stocky build, it was time to enter a player name. She quickly typed in 'Jenith', a simple but androgynous name. Finishing the character creation, 'Jenith' finally entered the game. When the light faded, Jenith was standing in a large, slightly Spartan Gothic style building. Around her people were appearing in columns of white light. As was typical of gamers, most of the male and female avatars appearing around the room were un-naturally beautiful, so Jenith was actually remarkable due to 'his' normal appearance. Next to Jenith appeared a new avatar that was an average looking female, with mousy brown shoulder length hair.

"Hello." The female avatar said. "I'm Neoth."

"Jenith." Jenith replied, holding out his hand for Neoth the shake.

Neoth's handshake was a bit too aggressive, confirming Jenith's suspicion that 'she' was male in the real world.

"Looks like that NPC over by the door is a quest giver. Let's go see what the starting quest is." Jenith said, before heading over to the quest giver with Neoth following a step behind.

"This is the hallowed halls of Scholam Cadmian." The quest giver began when they stood in front of him. "The Fortress world of Cadmian had had the honour of hosting this Scholam for the last three hundred years and all graduates are expected to uphold the finest traditions of the Institution. Your first step along the path to graduation is to report to the Arms Master and gain basic proficiency in the weapons you may be called upon to use in service to the Emperor, should you prove worthy and not a total waste of our time. Well, what are you waiting for, get a move on."

A popup appeared in Jenith's vision showing 'Report to the Arms Master' as an active quest.

With a nod at each other, the pair left the receiving hall to search out the Arms Master.

* * *

Jenith blocked the blow and retaliated with a side slice that Neoth blocked. They took a step away from each other, letting their guards down. The Arms Master was walked down the isles between the sparing rings, watching the players spar with blunted blades.

"Time." The Arms Master called and the other players also stopped.

It had been four hours since Jenith had logged in and it seemed that both Jenith and Neoth were slightly ahead of the curve. With the vast military bent of the game and full immersion nature, the game designers had determined that it was necessary that the players undergo training rather than just being thrown into combat. So far all the Scholar Progenium players had been training with basic blunted swords, with Jenith having levelled up to level two and a third of the way to level three. Soon would come the time for firearms training.

The Arms Master was turning to face the players when suddenly he froze and Jenith's vision was covered in white and when the white faded it revealed the receiving hall. Neoth appeared to Jenith's left, looking as confused as Jenith felt. All the players in the room looked up when a black robed figure appeared in floating near the ceiling.

"Welcome players, to my world." The figure said. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of the NERV Gear and a principal designer of Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online. Now as many of you may have noticed, the logout button is missing from your main menu. This is not an error, this is how WAO was designed. There is now only one way to exit WAO. On a distant world, there is an ancient shrine, protected by a ravenous horde of Tyranids. Once this shrine is destroyed, then every single player will be logged out of the system. There is one other thing that you need to know. Should a players HP bar reduce to zero, or if any attempt to remove the NERV Gear by anyone on the outside, then a massive electromagnetic pulse will destroy the player's brain."

Jenith looked across at Neoth, who had a look of terror on her face.

"This information has been relayed to every government and news agency in the world." Kayaba continued. "Despite my warning, over twelve thousand, four hundred and nineteen of the four hundred thousand players have now been permanently deleted from the system, and the real world. Given the nature of WAO, it is only fair that all players have an equal chance at survival, which is why all classes have an initial risk free training faze. There is one other thing. I have deposited an item in the inventory of every single player. Please look at it now."

Jenith looked into the inventory and saw the new item was a mirror. Taking it out it showed the reflection of the avatar she had selected. As second later a glow enveloped the avatar and when the glow faded she was looking at her real face. Next to her, Neoth had turned from a cute if plain female player into an average looking, if slightly short, man in his early twenties with the same mousy brown hair of his avatar in a short cut.

"Good luck on clearing the game." Kayaba said before the floating figure disappeared.

Jenith took a look across at Neoth, who still looked scared.

"Come on, let's get back to the training room." Jenith replied.

"Alright, Jenith." Neoth replied.

"Just call me Jen." She replied with a smile.

"Neo." He smiled back as they took off running past the still stunned players.

* * *

Kilith smiled as he watched the figure fade in the large pit where he and a bunch of other Chaos Cultist players were standing. He was large, even after the mirror reset, with his a chaos undivided symbol carved on his chest. Kilith did not care about the potential death thing, he was a mercenary in real life, and well paid for it. All he cared about at the moment was getting back to the training quest he had been on before the announcement.

He did not bother with the narrow paths out of the pit, simply climbing up the rough hewn walls, that seemed to glisten with blood. Once out onto the decaying street he pulled out the spiked mace from his back and held it comfortably in his left hand as he stalked through the wreckage of the vehicles and broken bits of buildings looking for the civilian NPC that he was to kill. He had gotten sight of her just before he had been transported to the pit for the announcement. She had been kind of cute, for a slightly emaciated street kid. Oh yes, he was going to have fun with this.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

* * *

Jen and Neo walked along a pathway out from the Scholam, one of the earliest Scholar Players to complete the training, which was designed to take them to level 5, but due to the extra work they put in they were both almost level 6. The path they were on would eventually take them to the nearest Imperial Guard Training camp but there was turn off to the hunting grounds of the first quests. They had learnt that there are actually two Scholam, four Imperial Guard Training Camps and two Mechanicum Factorums on Cadmian for the starting Imperial players.

They were both still dressed in the starting simple black with red trim uniforms of the Scholam but Jen was armed with a Lasrifle, with a basic sword as backup, while Neo was armed with his preferred Laspistol and the same sword as Jen. As they walked they saw two figures approach from the direction of the Guard Training Camp. As they were outside the safe zone of the Scholam, they readied their weapons but did not raise them. The approaching figures were two Imperial Guard players. One was a large teenager with fair skin who looked like a running back or Rugby forward while the other was a petite little Asian woman, with short black hair and penetrating eyes. Both the Guard players had Lasrifles in their hands, simple flack vests covering their torsos while the man had a Laspistol in a holster at his waist while the woman had a bayonet.

"Hello." Jen said cautiously.

"Hey." The large Guard said with an American accent.

"I'm Jen, this is Neo." Jen said. "And you are?"

"I'm Rock." The big guy said. "And this is Tona."

"First and Only?" Neo said with a grin that got all four of them laughing and a nod from Tona.

"So… How's being in the Guard?" Jen asked.

"Bunch of hard asses, but overall, not too bad." Tona replied, surprising Jen and Neo with a solid Australian accent. "How's the Scholam?"

"Ehh." Neo replied with a shrug. "Most of them are up themselves."

That got a smile from the two Guard players.

"What's say we group up?" Rock said. "Figure with the four of us together we could clear the quests fairly quickly."

After exchanging a glance with Neo, Jen nodded and sent group invites to Rock and Tona as she was already the grouped with Neo. The pair quickly accepted the group invite and Jen shared the quests they had gotten at the Scholum with the two Guard players while Tona shared the Guard Quests with Jen and Neo.

The group made their way out into the field with Jen in the lead, Tona on her left, Rock on her right and Neo behind her ready to step in if close combat was needed. Looking through the updated quest list it looked like a lot of the Guard and Scholam quests were complementary. With a quick nod and a swift hand signal Jen lead the group towards the nearest group of quest targeted NPCs and began to open fire in short, disciplined bursts, joined almost immediately by Rock and Tona with the occasional pistol shot by Neo.

* * *

Jen, Neo, Rock and Tona walked through the Imperial Guard Training Camp, looking to turn in the latest batch of quests. Most of the Guard players ignored Jen and Neo by now, having become used to them over the last few days coming into the Guard Camp to turn in quests with Rock and Tona. While the Guard had quickly become accepting, the Scholam players still looked down on Rock and Tona whenever they accompanied Jen and Neo into the Scholam to turn in quests. After the brief completion conversation with the quest giver NPC, all four of them received popup notification that they had reached level 10. The whole group grinned and gave each other high fives at their achievement, they could now choose their specialisations. After agreeing to meet back up just outside the Guard Camp after their specialisation process was completed, Jen and Neo rushed back to the Scholam, looking for the Scholam Master. The Master was a wizened old man, with a ram rod stiff back and a completely metal, skeletal right arm.

"Congratulations on your successful graduation from Scholam Cadmian. You may now choose the manner in which you will serve the exalted Emperor." The master announced.

In front of Jen there appeared a box that stated 'Commissar' on the left and 'Sisters of Battle' on the right with a button beneath each. Next to her, Neo had the same choice, except he could choose 'Storm Trooper' instead of 'Sisters of Battle'. It came as no surprise to Jen that he immediately clicked on the left hand button. Jen herself only hesitated a second before selecting 'Sisters of Battle'.

"Your choices have now been made. Sister Jenith, you will report to Sister Superior Kathrine in the Ecclesiarch Chapel for your initiation. Junior Commissar Neoth, you will report to Commissar Rygel in the command centre. Bring honour to Scholam Cadmian." The Scholam Master proclaimed.

Jen quickly separated from Neo and made her way to the Chapel. She met with Sister Superior Kathrine in the back cloister. Kathrine was a severe looking woman in the black Power Armour and red robes of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, with a long scar down her cheek, which ruined the Fleur-De-Lis tattoo and short white hair. There was a long speech about dedication and devotion to the Emperor before a two vendor windows opened for Jen to make her new Specialisation purchases from.

On one side there was the choice of three different suits of Power Armour and three different Bolters to choose from, ranging from relatively cheap and ineffective to relatively expensive and of much better quality. The other vendor window displayed a selection of fifteen Sister of Battle NPCs, each with their own different set of stats and different recruitment costs based on those stats. These were the NPCs that she could select from to fight under her command. There a line of text at the bottom of that vendor window stating that at her current level she could only recruit two Sisters.

Even relatively flush with Imperial Credits from completing both Scholam and Guard quests, Jen quickly realised that she could not afford the best equipment and the best available NPCs. In the end, she decided to go for the mid level Power Armour and Bolter on the equipment side (after selling her Lasrifle but not her sword to Kathrine) and to recruit one mid ability NPC, a Sister Rose, and one higher ability NPC, Sister Magritte. While Sister Superior Kathrine sent an initiate back to summon Sister Rose and Sister Magritte, Jen opened her inventory and equipped her new Power Armour, in the black and red of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, before manually removing the helmet and clipping it to a small ring on the waist of the armour. She equipped the Bolter as her main weapon, which she magnetically attached to the side of armour's backpack, which contained the power source for the armour, for easy reach and the basic sword that she had kept which was sheathed on the opposite hip to where her helmet hung. Her Scholam uniform she placed into her inventory for the time being for safe zone occasions where she did not want to wear armour.

Sister Rose and Sister Magritte soon emerged from the rear of the chapel, both in their Power Armour and robes with their Bolters fastened to their backpacks and their helmets clipped to their waists. Rose was a smoothed faced woman who looked like she had just lost the last of her baby fat, with short red hair and innocent looking blue eyes. The stats Jen had read indicated that she was a decent shot with her Bolter, was slightly weak in hand to hand combat and was quite devout but had little combat experience. Magritte, on the other hand, had and olive complexion, black hair and hard, dark brown eyes. Her stats indicated that she had good tactical instincts, a slightly better shot than Rose and had two bloody campaigns under her belt.

"Sisters." Kathrine said to the two newly arrived Sisters. "This is Sister Jenith, she is to be your new commander."

"It is an honour to meet you, Sister Jenith." Sister Rose said with a deep bow.

"By your command, Sister." Sister Magritte replied simply.

With a last nod at Sister Superior Kathrine, Jen turned and walked out of the Chapel, with her two NPCs following behind. She met up with Neo in the entrance hall of the Scholum. He was now dressed in the iconic Great Coat and peaked cap of a Commissar, but Jen could detect the slight odd creases in the uniforms clothing that indicated armour underneath, with a Bolt Pistol holstered at one hip and a Chainsword clipped to the other. There were no NPCs with Neo as the Commissar class was a support class that could improve the performance of other players NPC but could not recruit their own, at least not at first.

Jen introduced her two NPCs to Neo and then they made their way out of the Scholam. As soon as they left the safe zone around the Scholam, both Rose and Magritte smoothly donned their helmets and drew their weapons, which they held in a loose, relaxed grip.

Tona was waiting for them just outside the Guard Camp, relaxing against a wall with two NPC troopers in tow. Tona introduced them as Trooper Krys, an unassuming looking male trooper with a Lasrifle and bayonet in flack armour, and Trooper Jane, a solid looking female trooper with a grenade launcher in her hands and a cocky grin on her face. Tona explained, with a broad grin on her face, that she had taken the Infantry Commander specialisation, which meant that she would not get a large number of NPCs under her command, unlike the Command Officer specialisation, but that she had more flexibility with the load out and abilities of her squad.

"Where's Rock?" Neo asked.

"He should be along soon. Boys and their toys." Tona said, somewhat cryptically.

They waited there for a few minutes until they heard a regular, low level thumping that seemed to be getting louder. Jen and Neo looked around, slightly concerned, while Rose and Magritte raised their Bolters to ready positions.

"That should be Rock now." Tona said.

Jen waved for Rose and Magritte to relax as the source of the thumping came into view. It was Rock, and he did not have any NPCs with him, instead he approached in the striding form of a Scout Sentinel, the Imperial Guard light recognisance walker with a wire frame cockpit, reversed hinged legs and a single multi-laser jutting out of the right hand side of the cockpit. Jen could see Rock's face, below his helmet, with a massive grin. Rock had obviously chosen the Armour Commander specialisation for those players who planned to one day ride into battle in a tank.

"Told ya. Boy's and their bloody toys." Tona added.

"What do you think?" Rock asked.

"That you're compensating for something." Jen deadpanned.

That got a big laugh from Tona, Neo, the two Guard NPCs and even Rock. Rose merely smile while Magritte shook her head and chuckled under her breath.

"Ok, let's get to the spaceport." Neo said. "What's the next planet classified as?"

"Agriworld, called Macros' Garden. But there is supposed to be some rebels and a small feral Ork clan." Tona replied.

Cadmian had been a safe starting world as it was a Fortress World, a world in which most of the local dangers are contained and the majority of the population was trained to fight. The Argiworld would be different, with vast areas sparsely populated; there would be plenty of places for dangers to build, especially if there were Orks around.

The journey to the spaceport was quick and easy, in a central save zone but the guards would not let a player enter the spaceport until they had reached level 10 and chosen their specialisation. As soon as they passed the guards into the safe zone, Rose and Magritte removed their helmets and clipped them to their waists. Rose got an appreciative whistle from Krys which caused her to blush and earned Krys a whack over the back of the head from Jane.

Rock got slightly annoyed when his precious Sentinel was locked in the hold of the shuttle that would take them to the interstellar spaceship in orbit above. They were soon all strapped into the shuttle along with a single other player, a lone figure that was cloaked and hooded in the red of a Mechanicum Tech Adept and felt the weight of the rapid acceleration of the shuttle to make orbit.

Jen though about the semi-permanent nature of the group, now her friends, and wondered if it was too early to make it official and form them into a guild. She would have to discuss it with them on the trip to the Agriworld.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

* * *

Jen held up her gauntleted fist to call a stop and then indicated the group to take cover as she scanned the surrounding terrain through her helmet's sensors. They were three days out from the capital city of Macros' Garden and they were reaching the edges of a large forested area a few kilometres away from the nearest town. Rose, Magritte, Tona, Krys and Jane took up a defensive circle, with their rifles raised and Neo in the centre.

"Rock, report." Jen called over her armour's vox.

"Approaching your position from the south east. ETA one minute." Rock replied.

"Rodger." Jen replied.

On the warp trip over from Cadmian to Macros' Garden Jen had raised the prospect of forming a guild and the others had agreed and they had named the guild 'Hand of the Emperor' and elected Jen as Guild Leader.

Rock's Sentinel approached from the south east and he folded up the legs and jumped out of the cockpit. He had given up his rifle when he had selected to go as an armour jock, so he only had his pistol.

"What's the word?" Neo asked.

"Target's to the north. A dozen rebels in a small camp. Mix arms of rifles and pistols. Not much in the way of body armour." Rock replied.

"Opinions?" Jen asked.

"Frontal Assault?" Rock asked.

"I got a better idea." Magritte said. "My Sisters and I have better armour. We make the assault and get their attention. Sergeant Tona's squad and Commissar Neoth flank round to the left and ambush them while Scout Rock takes his Sentinel and flanks to the right."

"Sounds like a plan." Tona said.

"Agreed." Jen added. "Tona, just make sure that your squad does not hit Rock, and Rock, the same with Tona's squad."

The four Players and four NPC's nodded in agreement. Jen made her way directly north with Rose and Magritte flanking her, and took cover at the edge of a clump of trees overlooking the rebels' camp. Both Tona and Rock sent a vox pulses when their teams were in position.

"Pick a target." Jen softly said to her Sisters.

Jen raised her Bolter and sighted on one young rebel in the middle of the camp who looked like a leader.

"Fire." She ordered as she squeezed the trigger.

The bolt round from her gun tunnelled into the young rebel's forehead and then exploded, followed a second later by the chests of two of the other rebel's exploding from the bolt rounds of her Sisters. Jen lined up another rebel and fired, watching as he too fell. By this time the rebels has figured out the location that the Sisters were firing from and all turned towards them, firing from the hip. Two more exploded from Bolt rounds before they took as step. Fire from Jen's left took down four of the Rebels. One blew up spectacularly from Jane's grenade launcher, with grenade fragments and bone splinters peppered his fellow rebels, one going down to a fragment sliver in his jugular. Another went down to Neo's bolt pistol while the last fourth went down to Tona and Krys' Lasrifles, one to the chest the other to the face. The two remaining rebels, located to Jen's right were taken down by the rapid fire of Rock's Milti-laser as his Sentinel as it strode out the trees.

"Clear." Jen called when she confirmed all the rebels were down. "Anyone hit?"

"Negative." Tona replied after checking her squad.

"I'm fine." Neo added.

"All fine over here." Rock said.

"Fine here." Rose reported.

"Grazing hit, but it did not penetrate." Magritte advised.

"Alright." Jen said. "I think we're done here."

"Yeah." Tona added. "Let's get back to the village before nightfall."

* * *

Jen sat on the bed in her only her underwear in the semi-abandoned house that the Guild had rented for the night while reading the official Sisters rulebook that she had gotten from Kathrine on Cadmian before she went to bed. A knock sounded at her door.

"Who is it?" Jen called.

"Sister Jenith, it is Sister Rose." Came from the other side.

"Come in." Jen replied, sitting up but not bothering to put anything on.

Rose came into the room and when she saw Jen's state of dress she blushed. Rose was dressed in a simple red kimono style robes.

"Sister Rose, what's the matter?" Jen asked, waving to the single chair in the room.

"I am troubled. They never trained us for this at the Convent." Rose said.

"What is troubling you, Sister?" Jen asked.

"It is Trooper Krys." Rose replied. "He is constantly flirting and… I just don't know. I'm sure that it is forbidden for any kind of interaction, but I can not deny that he does cause a reaction, I'm just not sure what kind of reaction."

"Sister, it is natural now that you are out of the Convent that you will be exposed to thing you have no experience with. I appreciate you coming to me with this, and I do not believe you have done anything wrong." Said to reassure the young Sister. "I will talk to Sergeant Tona about Trooper Krys' behaviour. It would be advisable if you did not associate with Trooper Krys during down time. And if you have any further issues come to me, alright?"

"Thank you, Sister." Rose said with great relief on her face. "I believe I will go pray to the Emperor for guidance."

Jen simply watched Rose leave, marvelling at the complexity of the social and emotional development of the NPCs that a player can control. None of the town NPCs were this complex. With a sigh she lay down on the bed and dropped off to sleep.

* * *

Kilith walked arrogantly through the arrival spaceport on the Death World of Menoth, the first planet out from the Chaos starting world of Karnath. With his desire to be in the thick of the fighting, Kilith had chosen the Mutant Officer specialisation, and his two Mutant troopers flanked him, one with an extra eye in the back of his head and the other had her skin as grey as stone and was dressed only in a pair of cargo pants and a tank top. Both his Mutants had a Lasrifle in their hands and a wicked looking blade at their belt. Kilith's own mutation was enhanced strength from denser muscles and he had a large two-handed spiked mace on his back and a pair of pistols at his hips.

Most of the Chaos players were smart enough avoid Kilith, especially after the incident where he had been ambushed by three players on Karnath and had killed all of them in under a minute, his reputation had grown after that incident and now only three types of players approached him. Cruel players who wanted to attach themselves to the strongest player they could find; want to be bad ass players with a death wish looking to take him on; and weak players, particularly females, who were looking for someone to protect them.

The female player who approached him on the street was defiantly one of the third type. The fact that she had chosen the War Leader specialisation was obvious by the five weak Cultist NPCs that followed her. The War Leader was chosen by player with delusions of commanding armies or who were afraid and wanted as many NPCs to protect them as possible.

"My Lord Kilith." She said, kneeling in front of him with her head lowered. "My name is Moria, and I pledge my forces to you in return for your protection."

Everyone knew Kilith, and he revelled in the fear.

"You know it will take more than your NPCs to garner my protection, don't you?" Kilith said, running a long finger along Moria's cheekbone and raised her head to look at him.

"I know my Lord." Moria replied.

"Then follow me." He said.

He led Moria through the city to an encampment just outside the safe zone. Stationed there were all the players who were under Kilith's command or protection. There was a large ring in the middle of the camp where another ragged looking female waited.

"Moria, Jarnith. You have both requested my protection." Kilith declared. "Now at the moment I am only willing to protect one of you, unless you can convince me otherwise. So you have three choices. First, withdraw your application for protection and immediately leave this encampment. Secondly, you can both cut off one of your arms and I will consider protecting both of you. The third choice is you will fight each other to the death, no NPCs. I will protect the winner."

These were serious choices because in WAO, the loss of a limb was permanent and could only be replaced with a prosthetic from Dark Mechanicum Adept, either a player or an NPC, which was very expensive and not likely to be bestowed on one being protected.

Moria and Jarnith looked across at each other, with fear in their eyes. If they cut off their arm, then they really would be dependant on Kilith, but the other choice would be to face death either in the ring or in the field. There was hesitation in both their eyes, because if one choose to cut off their arm and the other to fight then the first would surely die. Finally in resignation, Moria made her decision.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

* * *

Jen stood from the early morning devotions with her Sisters and ordered them to perform their daily maintenance on their wargear as she exited the rented house. She noted that Rose seemed in better spirits this morning than she had the previous night. She was momentarily blinded when she stepped out into the sunlight, but her vision quickly cleared to see Rock puttering around over by his deactivated Sentinel while both Sergeant Tona and Commissar Neo were talking to Trooper Krys with Trooper Jane sitting nearby cleaning her grenade launcher.

"I didn't mean no harm, Sarge. I was just flirting." Krys said.

"Use your head, trooper. They're fucking nuns with guns straight out of the convent. I'd be surprised if Sister Rose has even seen a man since she was a child, so keep the comments under wraps. If you don't then I may not get a chance to turn your case over to the Commissar here, 'cause the bloody nun's likely to shoot you herself." Tona said, punctuating her points with sharp pokes to Krys' chest.

"I will be watching." Neo added for effect, causing Krys to go pale.

Jen walked along the street towards the bakery, hoping to get a bun or a roll for breakfast when she saw another group of players entering the town. The four new players looked like they had been through the ringer. Their apparent leader was a Mechanicum Tech Adept, whose large cog-headed power axe was worn and bloody and his robes were torn, showing body armour beneath. The hulking Skittarii Player, the militant arm of the Mechanicum made up of combat cyborgs, looked just as battered with one of the two massive Skittarii NPC's wounded and being supported by the other. The other two were Guard Players, one having chosen Command Officer but he only had three of his five Conscript NPCs remaining, while the other one was a Heavy Weapons Specialist and his ammo loader NPC who both looked like things had gotten way too hairy.

"You guys ok? Need any assistance?" Jen asked as she approached the weary group.

"We got hit by an ambush of five Orks Boys about three miles out of town. We got them all but they were scouting for a force that was heading this way." The Tech Adept player said.

"Damn." Jen swore. "This town is not a safe zone."

At this both the new players and their NPCs slumped.

"Jen to all Hands. Assemble in the town square. There are Orks heading this way. Neo, on the double." She ordered before turning back to the Tech Adept. "We have a Commissar on the way to rally your troops. If you're willing to fight with us, we'll have a planning session to coordinate the defence of this town as soon as my colleagues get here."

The Tech Adept looked at the other players who all grimly nodded.

"We're in. So what are your forces?" The Adept replied.

"I have two Sisters, one who is not bad at tactics, the Commissar I mentioned before, an Infantry Sergeant with two troopers and a Sentinel jocky." Jen replied.

"Good." The Adept replied. "Is the Sentinel in good working order?"

Jen nodded and the Adept looked relieved.

"Ok, that means I can concentrate on reinforcing defensive emplacements. Timo, I'm gonna need your Conscripts to start filling sandbags. The rest of you take a breather."

At that point Neo and the rest arrived on foot.

"Neo. Get the work on Morale. Tona, get Krys and Jane working on the sandbags with the Conscripts. Rose, Magritte, I want you on perimeter. Let me know when there is any movement." Jen ordered.

"Yes, Sister." Magritte said, leading Rose off.

"You heard her, get your ass moving." Tona added.

"So… how we going to defend this berg?" Rock asked.

* * *

Jen hunkered down behind the reinforced sandbag wall, watching the sun lower in the west. The town itself had solved some of the problems of defending it. Due to how cold it got in winter, the houses were made of thick stone and in the direction the Orks were coming from there were no doors or first floor windows on the side facing out of village, along with a narrow road into the town. In the centre of the town was the Ecclesiarch church that had a large belltower that was the highest structure in the town.

The defence plan had been a collaboration of most of the players and Magritte, but with the broad strokes by Jen and the Command Officer player, Timo. The heavy weapons team would be stationed with their Heavy Bolter in the belltower, giving them clear line of fire and a three sixty degree range of vision in case the Orks decided to try and flank. Tona's squad was stationed on the roof of the building to the right of the street the Orks were expected to attack down while Timo, his Conscripts were stationed on the left with Commissar Neo to make sure the Conscripts stay motivated. A reinforced sandbag wall, a little higher that waist height on the Sisters, stretched the width of the narrow road, with the Sisters, Skittarii and the Tech Adept stationed behind it. Rock's job was to harry the Orks and do as much damage as he could.

Jen was starting to be concerned that the Orks would not attack until after dark when Rock's Sentinel burst out of the treeline, moving as fast as it could with one leg of the walker obviously hacked up not functioning properly.

"They can't be more than a hundred meter's behind me." Rock yelled.

"Over the barricade, Rock." Jen ordered.

The Sentinel was obviously struggling as it covered the gap between the sandbag wall. Rock had almost reached the wall when the first greenskins appeared at the edge of the forest. Rock took on last limping step then used the walker's one good leg to clear the wall as the Heavy Bolter opened up from the church belltower. Even with the heavy rate of fire of the explosive shells, Jen saw three Orks go down and two struggle back up. Rock landed hard on the town side of the wall and the walker struggled to stay upright.

"Rock. Retract your legs and turn into a fixed emplacement." Jen ordered.

"Rodger." Rock grunted, struggling to control the wounded walker. "Got five of the bastards though. Tougher than those Rebels."

More Orks emerged from the forest and began charging the barricade, still being strafed by the Heavy Bolter. As they got closer, the Lasrifles and Jane's grenade launcher also opened up, slightly slowing but not stemming the green tide. Even the added fire of the Sisters Bolters, the deadly weapons of the Skittarii and Rock's now fixed Milti-laser only seemed to slow the onrushing Orks, and the proximity to the Imperial forces meant the Heavy Bolter had to stop firing or risk hitting their allies.

The first three Orks to reach the barricade raised their crude but effective weapons to slash down on the defenders. The Skittarii player reached up and grabbed the down rushing arm of one Ork, the sound of his struggling cybernetic implants grinding audibly over the sound of gunfire, as his two squad mates decapitated the Ork with their melee weapons. The second Ork was disarmed, literally, by the Tech Adept whose Cog-headed Power Axe sliced through first the Ork's arm and then buried itself into the Greenskin's chest. Rose and Magritte kept firing at the third as it approached, still slashing wildly, only to die by the point of Jen's sword sliding smoothly into its throat.

They all looked up from dispatching their Ork, expecting to see another wave of Orks about to cut them down but there was not. There were only a few Orks on the approach still alive and they were being dispatched by disciplined fire from Imperial Guard squads on the rooftops.

"I'm hit." Magritte said, looking down at the rent in her side that tore through her Power Armour and was bleeding.

"Anyone else injured?" Jen asked through the Vox.

"Tower, no injuries." The Heavy Weapons player said.

"My squad's fine." Tona reported.

"None up here." Neo added.

"Bugger, that hurt." The Skittarii player said. "I think a few of my implants blew and I got a few scratches for god knows where."

"No damage here." The Tech Adept added.

"Damn that was close." Jen said.

"Boss." Tona chirped up. "I count twenty dead Greenies here, and we almost got BLT'd. Add to that the five Rock got and the five these guys took out last night, I'd say we got fucking lucky here."

"I agree." The Adept player said. "Without your help we would not have stood a chance."

"Hey, we needed you as much as you needed us." Jen replied.

"Thanks for the sentiment, but Rock took out by himself as many as our entire group did together last night." The Adept countered.

"I took them one at a time." Rock added.

"Regardless. We owe you, so I am going to repair you Sentinel, Sister Magritte's armour and upgrade what I can of your equipment as thanks." The Adept said with finality.

"Hey Jane." Tona said. "You've just been volunteered to learn the wonderful world of First Aid."

"Thanks Sarge." Jane replied sarcastically, with her grenade launcher resting on her shoulder. "Come on, Sister Magritte, let's have a look at that wound. And to think I joined the Guard so I wouldn't have to do friggen sowing."

"Sister Jenith, if I may?" Sister Rose said, taking off her helmet now that the danger had passed.

"Yes Sister." Jen replied.

"Would it be possible for the Honourable Tech Priest to possibly make a scope for my Bolter. I think I could have gotten some better hits at range but I just could not see as well as I would like." Rose said.

"You will have to ask the Tech Adept." Jen said, gesturing to the red robed figure.

"Um, Honourable Master…" Rose hesitantly began.

"Yes, Sister Rose." The Adept replied. "I would be happy to make a scope for one of the brave Sororitas who fought so well by my side."

Rose's cheeks flushed and she did a deep bow before turning and following after Jane and Magritte to check on her Sister.

"She's just out of the Convent." Jen said with a shrug.

"Well I had best get to work." The Adept said with a shake of his head.

"Tona, Neo. See what you can do to help our Guard friends. Training, advice, whatever."

"Got it boss." Tona said with a smile. "Come on, Starch Britches."

"That's Commissar Starch Britches." Neo shot back.

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

* * *

The Hand of the Emperor Guild wearily trudged back into Macros' Landing, the capital city of Macros' Garden, having just been out on a 'tour' and were returning to rest and rearm. They moved down the large central avenue to the PDF Barracks, where Jen rented them a series of rooms from the Guild funds.

It was six months since the frantic battle in the small town against the Orks, and the Hand has seen some fierce action. Since then they had kept in contact with Remnos, the Adept Player, and his guild, The Crimson Warriors. At the time, Remnos had done what he could to repair and upgrade their weapons, but most of the Hand's equipment had been fairly good. As promised he had made Sister Rose a scope for her Bolter, which had an embossed Fleur-De-Lis and had quickly become her most prized possession. He had also upgraded Jen's basic sword into a Power Sword.

The Guild had grown slightly since then as well, as far as NPCs go but had not accepted any new Players, though there was a small selection of other Players that sometimes joined them for a mission or a fight. Rock had acquired his first NPC, called Jazz, and they both now piloted Armoured Sentinels, which were not as fast but were better armoured and each now supported a Plasma Cannon. Both Tona and Jen had gained an extra NPC. For Tona it was Trooper Melos, a taciturn but solid Trooper, while Jen had recruited Sister Cassandra, deadly in close combat and a solid shot.

Neo had also recruited a single Storm Trooper, called Trooper Dramos, who was equipped with Carapace Armour and a Hot-shot Lasrifle. Unlike the other Specialisations, where the recruitment of NPCs was primarily based on the Players level, for a Commissar it was a combination of level and the rating of one of the two Commissar unique attributes called Inspiration. Inspiration was used primarily as the attribute used to rally the Morale of allied NPCs during actual combat as well as determining the number of NPCs the Commissar could directly command. The other Commissar unique attribute was called Discipline, which was used to train allied NPCs, increase the effectiveness of the NPCs commanding Player's training and increase the overall maximum level of Morale of allied NPCs.

Neo had concentrated mostly on raising his Discipline attribute over his Inspiration attribute, which is why unlike some other Commissars Jen had seen walking around, he only had one instead of three NPCs. It was also the reason why both Tona's Guardsmen and Jen's Sisters were more effective than they would otherwise have been.

The early issues between Trooper Krys and Sister Rose had resolved themselves with Krys' control over his casual flirting, particularly after in incident involving Trooper Krys, Sister Magritte and a carving knife which neither of them would speak about. Jane had turned out to be almost as good with a medical kit as she was with her Grenade Launcher, and still treated Krys like a little brother but had great respect for the older and more experienced Melos.

Cassandra, like Rose, had been fresh out of the convent when Jen recruited her, which had formed a bond between the two Sisters, even though their fighting styles were quite different with Cassandra performing at her best when the enemy was at close quarters while Rose had become quite the markswoman. Naturally Sister Magritte had taken it upon herself to watch over the two younger Sisters.

Jazz, like Rock, seemed to care more about her Sentinel than anything else, and she was a bit of a grease monkey, able to make minor repairs to the two walkers. Trooper Dramos was the typical product of the harsh Storm Trooper program, and took his role as Neo's bodyguard very seriously, never straying more than two feet from the Commissar while in the field.

Once making sure everyone was settled, Jen changed out of her armour and into her Red sisterly robes, putting the Bolter into her inventory but leaving the Power Sword at her waist. Jen left the barracks and began to walk around the city, looking for the meeting place Remnos had voxed to her. Three days ago she had gotten a vox burst from Remnos asking to meet with her at the earliest opportunity in Macros' Landing. As the Guild was already on their way back, she had sent an affirmative reply, and when they had entered the city she had sent a vox burst to let Remnos know she was in town.

The meeting place was a lesser plaza in the eastern sector of the city, only considered lesser compared to the Grand Plaza in the city centre that took up four square city blocks. In the centre of the plaza was a large statue of a Space Marine and a Sister of Battle standing back to back. Jen was sure the sculptor, or programmer come to think of it, meant the statue to promote teamwork or as an inspiration that mighty warriors were protecting the city or something, but to Jen it just looked like the last two survivors of a desperate and bloody battle that were both about to die.

She sat on a bench at the foot of the statue so she would not have to look at it. After a minute, Ramnos joined her, still hooded in his dark red robes, several shades darker than her own robes.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about, Ramnos?" Jen asked.

"There is going to be a meeting in three days. A big one." The Tech Adept replied. "I want you and the rest of the Hand to be there. No NPCs, just players."

"I'm going to need to know what the meeting is about." Jen responded.

"We found the planet boss." Ramnos replied. "And by we, I mean the Crimson Warriors. It's an Ork Boss, and we almost lost Marthis just getting a look."

Marthis was the Skittarii player who had held the line with her in the small village.

"He ok? What about his NPCs?" Jen asked.

"He's fine now. I had to replace a fair few of his implants and he lost one of his NPCs." Ramnos replied.

The Skittarii were tough compared to Guardsmen, or even Sisters and Storm Troopers. Not agile but strong and able to take some damage.

"The meeting is to set up a Raid on the Ork Encampment." Ramnos continued. "The Boss has the dataslate that contains the navigation co-ordinates for the next planet, or if the rumours are to be believed, planets. He can't access it, of course."

"The Hand will be there." Jen said. "Any assistance you need in the mean time, we're available."

"That would be greatly appreciated. Same in return. The Crimson Warriors consider the Hand of the Emperor to be a… sibling Guild." Remnos said before rising, bowing to Jen, and leaving.

Jen slowly made her way back to the Barracks. This Raid was going to be a serious fight. They had to prepare.

* * *

Both the Hand of the Emperor and the Crimson Warriors were in a large training room in the PDF headquarters. Jen watched the others going through their paces. Timo, the Guard Command Officer, now had seven troopers under his command, the three who had survived the small town were no longer Conscripts but had been promoted to full Guardsmen, at about the same level that Krys and Jane had been when Tona had recruited them. Those three were sitting and chatting with Krys, Jane and Melos, discussing overlapping fire arcs and moving from cover to cover. The other four Conscripts were doing shooting practice under the supervision of Commissar Neo, and they were almost ready for promotion to full Guardsmen as well. Dramos watched from the side, leaning against the wall and watching both the area around Neo and the door.

Tona and Timo were standing around a table spread with Maps discussing strategies. Rose and Cassandra were sparing with knives under Magritte's supervision. Remnos, Rock and Jazz were discussing the capabilities and tactics for the Sentinels. Marthis was running through some training exercise with his two Skittarii NPCs, one a veteran from the town battle and the other a new one to replace the one who died scouting the Ork encampment. Krystos, the Heavy Weapons player was with his ammo loader breaking down and cleaning their Autocannon.

After watching for a few seconds, Jen drew her Power Sword, keeping it deactivated, and began a slow and measured Kata, gliding across the floor with smooth motions and sharp blows. For a while she lost herself in the motion of the sword and footwork, forgetting for a time the meeting the next morning and the big battle that would follow.

* * *

The auditorium was well populated but not overflowing, housing about fifty players, the vast majority Imperial Guard players. Remnos was the only Adept player in the room. There was one other Sisters of Battle player besides Jen, a total of three Skittarii players, including Marthis, four Storm Trooper players and three Commissars asides from Neo. The rest were all Guard, mostly Infantry Commander or Command Officers. There were about ten Armour Commanders and four Heavy Weapons Specialists.

"Alright everyone." Remnos said from the floor. "We are here to organise a Raid on the Planetary Boss. Once we beat the boss we will unlock the next World. This is a big deal. We have video."

Remnos activated the holoprojector in the middle of the room. The video was from one of Marthis' optical implants and was a bit shaky, but it clearly showed a careful approach through the trees to reveal a heavily armed Ork encampment, there was guard towers and in the middle was the huge form of the Ork Boss. The video showed the Orks spotting Marthis and the short but brutal fire fight as Marthis retreated under covering fire and one of his Skittarii go down.

The holoprojector went blank for a second and then was replaced with a projection of the encampment with the guard towers and other camp details.

"I invite Sister Jenith to come down and explain the battle plan." Remnos concluded.

Jen took a deep breath and then took the stage to outline the battle plan that the Hand and Warriors had developed over the last few days.

"The plan is fairly simple." She said and began gesturing to the Holoimage. "The Heavy Weapons teams will set up on these hills here and here. The Sentinels will split up and flank the camp here and here to keep as many Orks busy as possible. The main assault will thrust through here, led by the Skittarii, the Sisters and the Storm Troopers. Guard will come in afterwards. Once we reach this point, the Skittarii, a team of Command Officers, their Conscripts and the Commissars, along with Adept Remnos, will set up a defensive line to cover the advance. The rest will push the assault to the Boss. The Sisters and Strom Troopers will concentrate on the Boss while the Guard concentrate on keeping any other Orks in the area off the group. Once the Boss is down and we get the co-ordinates, the advance team pulls back to the defensive line, and then we all pull back together under the cover of the Heavy Weapons teams."

"Who plans the teams?" One of the Guard players asked.

"That is one of the things we are here to discuss." Jen replied.

"And why do the Sisters and Storm Troopers get all the glory?" Another, arrogant Guard player added.

"Because we have better armour and are more likely to take on the Boss. Even so, it is projected that the Sisters and Storm Troopers will suffer approximately thirty percent casualties. We ran the numbers for a Guard assault on the Boss, and it had a ninety percent casualty rate." Jen explained. "This is not about glory, it is about survival. Any other questions?"

The planning session went on for a few more hours.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

* * *

Jen was hunkered down just inside the tree line looking out over the Ork Encampment, the other seven Sisters were directly around her. There was almost fifty feet of open ground from the tree line to the gates, flanked by guard towers, and then another forty feet from the gate to the defensive point which was a triangle shaped series of walls.

"Gaunt, I say again, Gaunt." Jen said into the Vox.

She waited a few seconds, watching as the Guard Towers were taken down by two Lascannon Heavy Weapons teams while the two Autocannon Teams began strafing the Orks and the two teams of Sentinels, ten of the walkers in each team, attacking from the flanks with flashes of Plasma and flame roaring from walkers. With a sharp hand gesture, she led the charge out of the trees, leading the charging force of one hundred and seventy five imperial players and NPCs.

The eight Sisters, flanked by the sixteen Storm Troopers with nine Skittarii close behind spearheaded the attack, their weapons blazing at anything green in front of them. Behind them came the mass of Imperial Guard, Ramnos and the three Commissars, with their six Storm Trooper NPCs, who were in Black Carapace Armour as opposed to the dappled green, brown and red of the Storm Trooper players and their NPCs.

Where the leading edge of Sisters, Storm Troopers and Skittarii had some spacing between them, the majority of the trailing Guard were moving in tight clusters. The fire from the defending Orks was taking their toll on the attacking the Imperials, but the return fire from the attackers was cutting down the few Orks that they could see. Just before they reached the gate, a cluster of Ork rockets swept up from behind the barricade and blew a large hole in the tightly packed Guard. Jen, Rose and Magritte were the first three through the Gate and immediately cut down the rocket bearing Orks.

Inside the gates there were a lot more targets, and the deep throated roar of the Sister's Bolters, the high pitched whine and snap of the Storm Trooper Hot-shot Lasrifles and the hiss of the Skittarii weapons began to contend with the rough, feral bark of the Ork weapons. As the Imperials pushed forward the whine of Guard Lasrifles joined the din. The leading edge of the charge reached the three defensive walls and began to cover the rest of the force, revealing the trail of Imperial bodies. Tona's squad was one of the first Guard units to reach the barricades.

"Jane, set up a first aid post. Any other Guard with medical training reports to Jane. Tona, I want a casualty listing when we're all in." Jen ordered, and then began setting up the defensive lines, directing each new unit to a place on the line.

She was quickly joined by Neo and they were occupied with controlling the defences and repelling a charge by Ork Boys, which was repulsed by concentrated fire.

"Got the report, Boss." Tona said, sliding in besides Jen against the barricade. "We lost one Storm Trooper Player, and one Front Line Storm Trooper NPC. The asshole Commissar also lost one of his Storm Troopers NPC. Fifteen full Guard NPCs and one Infantry Commander Player, two Command Officer Players and thirty Conscript NPCs are also gone. Fifty-one total losses."

"Shit." Jen said, "That's heavier than expected. Get me Ramnos, Sister Marias and Storm Trooper Wilkies."

Tona nodded and moved off to find the three players. Rose popped up next to Jen and snapped of a shot at a distant Ork that was preparing a heavy weapon while Jen, Magritte and Cassandra fired at an approaching cluster of Boys. Ramnos, Marias and Wilkies all quickly arrived with Tona.

"We're going to have to change the plan. We've lost too many troops, including four Players." Jen said.

"What's the play?" Storm Trooper Wilkies asked.

"Ramnos, reinforce this place as much as you can. Tona, co-ordinate the defence with Mathris and Timo. Each of you take one of the walls." Jen ordered, having to shout to be heard over the increasing gunfire.

"Sister Jenith." Rose said, checking through her sight. "The Ork Boss appears to have a shield. I just took a shot at him and it bounced off."

"Can this get any worse?" Jen muttered, before raising her voice. "It's going to have to be just the Sisters and Storm Troopers making the final assault. Who's got Power Weapons?"

Sister Marias nodded her head and touched the sword at her waist. Wilkies also nodded.

"What about the other two Storm Trooper Players?" Jen asked.

"No. They're more shooty types." Wilkies replied.

"Ok." Jen said with a sight. "Then the three of us will take on the Boss. The others will take the protection role. No, Cassandra, you can't join the hand to hand, you don't have a Power Weapon."

Sister Cassandra's shoulders slumped in disappointment only to be nudged by Sister Rose.

"Look on the bright side." Rose said. "The Boss may have bodyguards you can beat up."

"Get the team together." Jen said to the other players who quickly left.

In no time the Sisters and Storm Troopers were assembled. Wilkies was briefing the Storm Troopers, with their dappled armour and helmets with obvious inbuilt re-breathers, while Jen addressed the Sisters, in their black power armour, red robes and black and white helmets.

"Sisters, as we approach, maintain fire at all Orks besides the Boss, who has an energy shield." Jen said. "Once we arrive, Sergeant Wilkies, Sister Marias and I will be directly engaging the Boss. While we are engaging the Boss, Sister Magritte will be in charge. You must maintain the perimeter because the other Orks will try to come to the aid of the Boss. Cloak yourselves in faith, Sisters. The Emperor is watching."

Jen nodded to Wilkies who had finished briefing the Storm Troopers.

"For the Emperor." Wilkies called.

"Purge the Xeno." Marias added.

The Sisters and Storm Troopers all vaulted over the barricades and began a slow and steady advance in a spread firing line, trusting the Guard to cover their backs. Their fire was steady, disciplined and accurate, slicing through the few Orks that were trying to intercept them and the guards around the Boss, with the Bolter's explosive rounds tearing chunks out of the durable Orks while the Storm Trooper's Hot-shot Lasrifles blowing holes through them with enough force to knock them down. The Orks were tough enough to require several shots from Bolters and Hot-shots to go down for good.

When they reached the Boss his last two guards went down as Jen, Marias and Wilkies all drew their Power Swords. The Boss was large even for an Ork, in one hand was a large axe but the other hand was replaced by a Power Klaw. As the three of them moved to flank the Boss, the remaining thirteen Storm Troopers and six Sisters set up a defensive circle far enough out to give them room to fight.

Jen glanced at Marias and Wilkies. Stepping forward, she feinted with her Power Sword, attracting the attention of the Boss, while Marias came in from behind with a strike. The strike hit the energy shield which flared, and then flared again when Wilkies' sword also hit the shield, while Jen parried the Boss' Axe. The Boss took a step back and gave a savage laugh, as if gloating about his shield, when all three of them stuck the shield at the same time, their Power Swords crackling against the energy shield and with a bright flash, which their helmets compensated for, the shield collapsed.

The Boss roared and did a wild swing with its Axe, followed by a sweep with its Power Klaw. Wilkies leaned out the way the Axe which Jen then blocked. Marias had to jump back out of the way in order to avoid the Power Klaw, which threw the Boss off balance and allowed Wilkies to dart in and bring his Sword down sharply through the Ork Boss' wrist and sliced off the hand holding the Axe. The Ork Boss growled, took a step forward and smacked Wilkies in the helmet with the stump of its severed hand. Taking the opportunity both Jen and Marias stepped in from different sides and drove their Power Swords deep into the body of the Ork Boss. The Ork Boss twisted slightly, trapping both of the swords momentarily, and it used that opportunity to grab Marias' upper arm with his Power Klaw. There was a metallic squeal as the Klaw crushed her Power Armour and the arm beneath.

As Marias screamed in pain from her crushed arm, Jen began twisting her sword that was in the Boss' back and Wilkies recovered from the blow to his helmet that had stunned him and drove his sword's point directly into the Boss' throat. As the Boss died, Jen cut the Power Klaw off of the Boss and helped Marias to her feet and supported her as Wilkies collected the Dataslate.

Two of Marias' Sisters took over supporting her while Rose, Magritte, Cassandra and Jen formed a defensive shield around them. It took Jen a second to realise that Marias' third Sister must be dead. The fight to get out of the encampment was not as tough as many of the Orks fled when the Boss died but there was still some sporadic fire.

* * *

Jen and Ramnos watched while the NPC Tech Priests were decoding and uploading the navigational data from the Ork Raid in the Cognitator bay on the other side of the glass from their observation room.

"I gave Marias the best replacement arm that I could, and told her I will repair or upgrade it for free whenever she needs it." Ramnos said.

"It's my fault." Jen said. "I should have had a better plan."

"It's not your fault." Ramnos replied. "There is no way we could have known about the Shield."

Tona came into the observation room and stood beside the others.

"What's the total?" Jen said, her eyes never leaving the Tech Priests in the other room.

"Out of the two hundred and three Players and NPCs on the raid, we had one hundred losses, eight being Players. Do you want a breakdown?" Tona asked.

"No." Jen said slowly shaking her head.

"What about the NPCs who lost their Players?" Ramnos asked.

"Not a lot of those amongst the Guard Players. The Guard players in the encampment who died lost all their NPCs. For the Storm Trooper and Sentinel NPCs, they were transferred to other Players." Tona replied. "They seemed to accept the transfer orders."

On the other side of the glass the Tech Priests seemed excited and then activated the holoprojector which showed both Cadmian and Macros' Garden and then with a few adjustments two more planet locations appeared.

"Do you think it was worth eight lives?" Jen asked.

"There are almost four hundred thousand Players trapped in WAO." Ramnos replied. "Not saying it is right doing that kind of math, but we all knew the risks going in."

"And think about it boss." Tona added. "You made the right call when you changed the plan. I saw the fight you guys had. Ok, Marias lost her arm, but if we had gone with the original plan, then a lot more Guard Players would have been out in the open and would have gotten chewed up."

Jen just absently rubbed her shoulder which had been wrenched during the fight with the Boss.

"How's your squad, Tona?" Jen asked, hoping for some good news.

"They're fine. Jane's exhausted. She and the two other Medics did save four Players and thirty NPCs who were wounded during the fight.

Jen just nodded and turned to walk out of the room.

"Get some sleep." Ramnos suggested.

"Later." Jen said wearily. "I need pray. Maybe the Emperor will forgive me at least."

Tona and Ramnos just watched her go silently, before sharing a glance.

"Think she'll get over it?" Tona asked.

"I hope so." Ramnos replied. "She's one of our best Strategists. We need her."

Tona just nodded as Ramnos also left. To her Jenith was more that just a hope to get out of the game, she was a friend.

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

A/N: Eldarhunter, I realise that in some respects the Eldar Aspect Warriors are as powerful as a Space Marine, and that was taken into account when I was setting up the playable classes, their evolution and the number of NPCs they can command. They will always be a small, elite faction, with only about 20,000 to 30,000 Players out of the starting 400,000 Players. With the Imperium and Chaos, some specialisations will be able to command significant forces on their own, while that is not true of the Eldar. To add Space Marine or Chaos Marines would have unbalanced the game as they would have given massive hitting power to already large armies. The Eldar will usually be outnumbered, thus they need the superior fighting skills and equipment.

* * *

Kendasil dodged to the left and then drove his Chainsword into the Tau Fire Warrior, blood splashing across his already bloodstained armour and his arm weary from the prolonged battle. Around him two other Stinging Scorpion Exarch Players, each with their two Stinging Scorpion NPCs, laid into the rest of the phalanx of Fire Warriors around him on the right flank of the battle, Chainswords whirling, and the flash of fire from Shuriken Pistols and Mandiblasters. Off to the left flank a group of three Fire Dragon Exarch Players, each with a single Fire Dragon NPC, were firing their Fusion Guns into a formation of Crisis Battlesuits, which were literally melting under the attack. One Autarch Player, with her four Guardian NPCs and two Dire Avenger Exarch Players, with two Dire Avenger NPCs each, were holding the centre against the fire of more Fire Warriors and the charge of Kroot Carnivores, who were cut down by the disciplined Eldar fire before they got within ten feet of the Eldar line. Two War Machine Commanders, in their War Walkers, accompanied by a solitary Wraith Guard, whose lightly armed and armoured Wraith Master Player, a specialisation of the Eldar Wraithbone Singer, was well behind the Wraith Guard itself, had flanked the Tau lines and were assaulting the Tau line from the rear.

The left flank collapsed first, with the Crisis Battlesuits unable to respond to the Fire Dragons' heavy hitting power. Even as the Fire Dragons began turning their fire on the Crisis Battlesuit clad Tau Commander and his bodyguards, the right flank collapsed as well and the Stinging Scorpions started rushing the Tau Commander. The Fire Dragons got off two volleys into the Commander and his bodyguards, felling two of the bodyguards and scoring several hits on the Tau Commander that melted through his armour causing serious wounds before the Stinging Scorpions were too close for the Fire Dragons to fire without risking hitting them. The Stinging Scorpions simply outclassed the more heavily armoured but slower Crisis Battlesuits. The centre of the Tau lines did not collapse, it shattered under sustained and accurate fire from three sides as their Commander was being dispatched. Almost none of the Tau managed to escape from the weapons of the Eldar.

After the battle was finished, Kendasil looked down at the body of the Tau Commander, almost completely dismembered by the Stinging Scorpions where it was not melted by the Fire Dragons. He bent down and picked up the data crystal lying besides the Tau Commander. Kendasil was the Guild Leader of the 'Aspect Path' Guild, one of the largest Eldar Guilds with its dozen members and one of the most prominent.

"Fine work." Kendasil said. "For the Craftworld."

"For the Craftworld." All the Eldar responded.

They all turned and wearily walked away from the site of the battle, with a fair number injured but leaving only one Eldar NPC corpse behind, amongst Tau corpses that counted over four times their own number. Kendasil looked at the data crystal as they walked with Indrasil, a female Dire Avenger Exarch Player and his second in command, by his side.

"So that will unlock the Webway gate to new planets?" Indrasil asked.

"Apparently." Kendasil replied. "Let us hope the next world's boss is defeated with so little a cost."

* * *

Jen jerked awake in a cold sweat, hitting her head on the low overhead of the sleeping alcove. She swung sideways and sat up with her feet on the deck and her head in her hands. Her bare feet could feel the distant thrumming vibrations of the massive engines through the deck plates as she ran a hand through her hair to try and clear her head. The nightmare had been about the dead World Boss Raid Players begging her to save them. As she stood she felt a massive build-up in the vibration of the engines and a scream that was not so much sound as something beyond sound, something reaching for her soul. The Rogue Trader that was taking the Hand of the Emperor Guild and some seventeen other Players and their NPCs from Macros' Garden to the next world had just dropped out of the Warp. Almost automatically, Jen began to don her Power Armour, the proper rights of protection and activation falling from her lips.

The two worlds that had been opened up by the defeat of the Ork Boss had different advantages and challenges. One was a Forge World, a world with massive factories that made a huge range of weapons from simple Lasrifles up to light armoured vehicles and the Macro-cannons used on Imperial Warships, which was torn apart by civil war, often being fought inside the very factories that were producing the weapons they were using to fight the war. The other was a Hive World which had produced some solid Imperial Guard Regiments in the past but was now facing increasingly powerful criminal gangs and persistent rumours of secretive Cults and Mutants hiding amongst the huge slum dwelling population.

For Players the choice came down to better equipment and vehicles available on the Forge World against the better training and skilled new NPCs attainable on the Hive World. After a long discussion with the entire guild, it had been unanimously decided that the Hand of the Emperor Guild would go to the Hive World, even Rock acknowledging that, at this stage, NPCs who knew how to effectively engage and survive a battle was a better investment than the slightly better equipment of the Forge World. It had not been much of a surprise when Ramnos had decided that the Crimson Warriors Guild would take the Forge World option, giving him access to better crafting knowledge and supplies as well as better implants for both Ramnos and Marthis and his Skittarii, the implants being the main source of strength and protection for the Skittarii.

Jen left her tiny cabin and was joined by Sisters Rose, Magritte and Cassandra. She walked down the hallway that contained the cabins, nodding idly to another Sisters Player and her three Sisters. Jen quickly made her way to the observation deck to get a look at the new world. She knew from experience that it would still be at least two hours before the Rogue Trader Vessel even reached stable orbit. She was not the only Player who wanted to get a look at the new World, as the observation deck was a bustle of activity, so much so that she barely even noticed two more groups of Sisters. Neo and Tona were also on the observation deck and Jen made her way over to stand by them.

"Inspirational, is it not?" Rose commented, staring down at the planet.

"Just another Hive World." Trooper Melos commented with a shrug.

Jen looked down on the Hive World in fascination. Throughout her youth, she had been fascinated with the evocative descriptions of life in the Imperium both from the background information in the various Codex's and from the entire library worth of novels ranging from the Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn to Ravener and even the Horus Heresy books. What she saw below rivalled her wildest fantasies. Sprawling Hives that covered thousands of square miles, even from this distance the central spires being implied by the natural patterns within the Hives. Between the Hives vast tacks of barren wastelands and huge swathes of green in the few agricultural centres that collectively could not even support the needs of a single Hive for a single day. Faint lines connected the Hives, mere suggestions that could be natural features as much as they could be the vital pipelines and rail links that linked the Hives.

Jen felt a moment of peace descend upon her as she stared down at the slowly growing Hive World that had once filled her dreams. Rose was right, it was inspirational.

* * *

"Alright, everyone here?" Marias asked as she looked at the small collection of other Players present, without their NPCs.

"Yes." One of the other Payers replied.

The meeting was taking place in one of the small, out of the way nooks on the Starship. There were six players present, but this was no ordinary meeting of a Party, Guild or a group of friends. This group was made up of all Sisters of Battle Players within WAO, with the exception of the one Sister who had not been informed of the meeting. With a grand total of seven Players, the Sisters of Battle was the most exclusive Specialisation in the entire game.

"Now we all know why we are here?" Marias asked, her augmented arm subconsciously opening and closing.

This was greeted with a round of solemn nods. They had not expected to be convened in such a council so early in the game, indeed some of them had not expected this council would ever have needed to be convened. They had all seen the relevant footage and had taken this Warp voyage as a chance to meet the Sister this council had been convened to vote on, they also had a full dossier on the Sister as well.

"Before we bring this to the vote, there is one more vid I would like to show you." Marias said to the assembled Sisters.

The Holoprojector showed a Sister, in full Power Armour including helmet, kneeling in Prayer at a shrine to the Emperor, and they listened as she spoke of the need for forgiveness for her failure and a pledge to avoid such failings again.

"Now you all know this is a serious matter. We have seen all of the relevant information and it is time to vote." Marias said. "I vote Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Then the vote is unanimous." Marias announced. "On this day, the Conclave of Sister Superiors had made its judgement. From this day forth, Sister Jenith of the Order of Our Martyred Lady is hereby…"

Marias paused slightly as she looked into the eyes of all the Sisters present.

"Elected as Canoness of the Order. This Conclave is now concluded."

There were some grins, but most of the Sisters did not wildly celebrate the new election.

"When are we going to tell Sister Jenith of her ascendance?" one of the Sisters asked.

"Not for a while." Marias admitted. "I know it is what got her elected, but she took the Payer deaths on the Boss Raid hard. I think she even blames herself for the loss of my arm. Truth is, though, without her, a lot more of us would have been lost on that Raid. I heard a few of the other battle plans that were suggested before the big meeting, even had one of my own. Had we gone with any of them, we would have been ripped to shreds before we even got close to the Boss."

"I had a few friends in that Raid." Another Sister added. "I was too far out to get back for the Raid, but I heard nothing but praise for her and the rest of her Guild. Their Infantry Commander and Commissar, along with a Skittarii Player, took over command of the barricade and saved a lot of lives, Player and NPC alike. Their Sentinel Jockey also ran the flanking operations."

"It's true." Marias said. "The Hand of the Emperor will be a Guild to watch."

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Victory or Death.

Author: Knife Hand

Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated

Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.

Summary: Four Hundred Thousand players log into the much anticipated Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online, only to find themselves trapped inside with no way out. 40K SAO crossover.

A/N: In response to biolaj1998's review, if anyone has any OC's that they want to be included in this story then please PM me and we can discuss it. Note, though, that I will not guarantee that the OC will be included, or if they are included that they will not be killed off. Also the OC may need to be modified to fit into the Specialisations in this fic.

* * *

The shuttle ride down was a bit rough in the upper atmosphere, transporting the Hand of the Emperor Guild and two other Players with their NPCs. Jen sat near the front of the shuttle, surrounded by her Sisters, all who were calm during the drop having experienced much more violent 'combat drops' during their training at the Convent. Most of the rest in the shuttle, including the Players, were displaying nerves as the ship shook, Krys' left foot was constantly tapping; one of the other Players was humming tunelessly. They were all concerned about the possibility of the shuttle crashing and killing them all, except for Rock and Jazz who were more concerned about their Sentinels, which were coming down in another shuttle that carried only cargo, than about themselves and Trooper Melos, who was asleep.

The shuttle's flight became smoother as it transitioned from the thin upper atmosphere into the denser air at lower altitudes. The passengers were all sitting in 'jump seats', small and uncomfortable canvas seats that folded up against the outer hull of the shuttle and were on detachable brackets so they could be removed if needed. There were no windows but the passengers all knew when the most dangerous part of a non-combat planetary entry has passed when they felt the hull stop heating up and began to cool slightly, a sure sign that they would no longer die in a giant fireball from an incorrect entry angle. The rest of the drop was uneventful until the jolt of the retro-thrusters about ten seconds before the shuttle landed.

The shuttle touched down and the rear ramp lowered to reveal huge spaceport that was suspended as a structure between three massive Hive Spires, with one almost twice the size of the other two. As the ramp lowered, all the passengers were slapping the quick release on the safety harnesses and grabbing their personal kit bags. They quickly disembarked and were met on the tarmac by a local Officer, a Major in the PDF by the look of his uniform.

"I am Major Wessex, Toten Hive PDF." The Major introduced himself. "The Planetary Governor and the General welcome you to Tarus. You may, should you choose, bunk in the PDF barracks just down the street for free for the next two days. After that you will either need to vacate or you will be charged rent. There is a Sisterhood convent attached to the main Ecclesiarchy Cathedral. The Imperial Guard Command Compound is in the eastern sector of the main spire, level one hundred and seventy five. The Commissariat Section House is about half a mile to the north of the Guard Command Compound. The underhive is currently off limits without authorisation. Again, welcome to Tarus and Toten Hive."

Having discharged his duty, the Major went back to his office leaving the new arrivals to find their own way or report to the nearby PDF barracks.

* * *

Tona and Rock led the 'invasion' of the Imperial Guard Command Compound. The other two Players that had been on their shuttle had been an Infantry Commander Player and a Command Officer Player. As the group of Players and NPCs entered the Headquarters building, they saw the tail end of the previous shuttle's Players group disappear through the door to the back of the reception centre. They reported to the desk officer, a young faced Lieutenant.

"Sergeant Tona reporting. Transfer from Macros' Garden." Tona said to the Lieutenant.

"All of you need to fill out these forms and provide full career dossiers." The Lieutenant said in a bored tone.

He got a bit of a shock as there were four thumps on his desk, each made by a pile of dossiers of varying size provided by the four Players. He looked up and the four Players simply grinned. They scattered around the room based on their squads and began filling in the forms. Once everyone had finished filling in the forms they were all ushered through the read door by a Captain and a Sergeant. The Sergeant led all of the Troopers off along one corridor while the Captain led the Player Sergeants down a different corridor. The four Player were led into a small briefing room where they all took seats while the Captain took the podium at the front.

"Welcome to Toten Hive Command, I am Captain Steiner." The Captain began. "Although you will now report to Toten Hive Command, your squads will not operate under the normal chain of command, instead you have been given special status by both General Westhime and Governor Tellos. You will operate independently as part of a special taskforce to weed out certain… disruptive elements in the local population. This briefing is classified Ultra Violet."

"What's our chain of Command?" Rock asked.

"You get your orders from me. If I am unavailable, then you report directly to General Westhime." Steiner continued. "Any more questions? No? Ok, here is the latest Intelligence we have as of oh-eight-hundred."

Captain Steiner activated the holopojector and began using a laser pointer.

"The Underhive is currently off limits due to a massive Cultist uprising. It is currently contained but it is one of the situations the task force will need to address at some point. But for now, here are the current points of concern…" Steiner said.

The briefing went on of over two hours, with detail analysis of the priority targets, including estimates of potential hostile forces.

"We realise that this is a high risk mission for a few isolated Squads to undertake. To that end, we have arranged for some of our most seasoned Veterans and our best Officers to provide additional training for your squads as they require it." Steiner finished.

* * *

The Grand Cathedral was a grand and imposing structure that was not actually built into the Main Spire itself. Instead a full dozed of the levels of upper mid reached of the Main Spire, ten kilometres wide and eight kilometres long at that height, had a section one quarter of the width and the entire length cut out of the Spire. It was in this cut out section that the Grand Cathedral was located, in a grand Gothic style with peaked arches, massive stain-glass windows with images of the Emperor and the Imperial Saints, imposing flying buttresses and tall spires, all adorned with golden Aquila and statues of Imperial Saints, the highest of which only missed brushing the floors above the gap by a few feet. The massive and imposing Cathedral filled the space, reaching from the precipice at the Northern end of the Main Spire back six kilometres and making the one kilometre strip between the front of the Cathedral and the main body of the Spire seem like a narrow pathway. The most notable dignitaries and the highest members of the Ecclesiarch never bothered with the walk across the strip, instead taking flyers to the landing pad on the outer wall of the Cathedral.

At the Southern end of the cut out section, merely a dozen feet from the Southern wall of the Cathedral, there was a long wall, eight feet tall, topped with razor wire and dotted with Heavy Bolter and Multi-Melta turrets. Above the wall could be seen the tops of smaller but as artfully crafted buildings that the general populous would never be able to approach, let along enter, and the single gate in the wall was guarded by four fully armed and armoured Sisters of Battle as they guarded the gates to the Sister's Convent.

There were a dozen exits from the Spire proper out into the strip in front of the Cathedral and two massive doors in the Cathedral itself. The teaming mass of humanity that filled 'The Strip' were all upper middle class and the lower upper class, the Merchant Barons, higher level Imperial functionaries and minor Nobility, all of them either heading to or from the Grand Cathedral. In fact the only space that was free from the jostling mass of people was a gap three hundred feet wide directly in front of the Convent Wall. To the populous of the Imperium the Adepta Sororitas were both a symbol of devout faith and a reminder of the supreme authority of the Ecclesiarchy, as the Sisters were known to be the 'Enforcers of the Faith' as the only permanent armed force of the Ecclesiarchy since the ancient 'Decree Passive' which forbid the Church to maintain 'any men at arms'.

In fact the only people between the almost dead straight edge of the crowd and the Convent Wall was Jen and her three Sisters. They were calmly walking across the open space with their weapons safely holstered, their bolters magnetically attached to their armours' backpack, and their helmets clipped at their waists. They approached the gate in the Wall, you could hear the capital when people spoke of it, and after a brief stop where the guards checked their papers they entered the Convent itself.

The Convent itself was a Preceptory. While almost all Sisters of Battle instillations were called Convents, in fact the term was also a very specific military term and there were only two Convents in the entirety of the Imperium, the Convent Prioris on Holy Terra itself and Convent Sanctorum based on the Shrine World of Ophelia VII. Each Convent consisted of three Major Orders, all founded by Alicia Dominica and her five bodyguards who stood before the God-Emperor himself when they ended the Reign of Blood and first took the name Adepta Sororitas, and numerous Minor Orders. The Order of Our Martyred Lady was part of the Convent Sanctorum. A Preceptory was the next level down from an Order, and the largest force of Sisters of Battle that was stationed permanently in one instillation. They were led by Prioress or a Canoness Preceptor and contained a force of a Thousand Battle Sisters, often times considered to be the Sister's parallel of the Space Marine Chapter, and usually carrying almost as much firepower.

The four passed through the gate into the Convent and saw the sight none but Sisters would ever see. The buildings were all as grand in their own way as the Grand Cathedral but on a much smaller scale, and the air was full of Hymns of Faith that provided the background sound of every Sisters Convent in the Imperium. There were Adepta Sororitas everywhere, mostly the armed Sisters of Battle of the Chamber Militant, but also Sister Hospitaller, the medical arm of the Sororitas, in their bone, red and black and in plain red robes without adornment were the Novices, all aged between fourteen and eighteen who were undergoing training to join the ranks of the Sororitas.

While the buildings were all of grand Gothic architecture and the Convent being a military instillation, it was still a place of occupation, and the Sisters within still went about daily life. For most of the Battle Sisters, the daily routine was still heavily dominated by both prayer and training, as they walked they still saw Sisters washing their robes or taking a walk in their off duty time. Several Sisters, both Militant and Hospitaller, were watching a group of young girls happily play, these were girls that had been left with the Convent as babies when their parents were unwilling or unable to care for them, a relatively rare practice but in a Hive where the population was in excess of five billion it still amounted to between ten and fifty infants a year. A group of Novices, looking about fourteen, were exiting from one of the instruction halls in a cluster, relieved like almost all teenagers to be out of a tedious class but with enough discipline instilled into them that they were not running or acting recklessly. When the Novices saw Jen and her squad, they stopped and saluted with their right fist over their hearts. Jen, Rose and Magritte simply nodded in return while Cassandra gave them a slight grin. Once they passed, the Novices formed into some semblance of a formation and proceeded off towards the Novices' Chapel.

Jen and her squad reported to the Headquarters and Jen was escorted into the Prioress' office, where she presented her orders while the rest of the squad waited in the outer office.

"Welcome to Toten Hive, Sister Superior Jenith." The Prioress said. "I have read the reports out of Macros' Garden. Good work."

"Thank you, Prioress, but we lost too many people against the Orks." Jen replied.

"The report says you lost approximately one hundred of two hundred, mostly made up of Imperial Guard, when assaulting an Ork encampment of about five hundred Greenskins. Under your command you managed to take out the Boss, seven Nobs and over two hundred Orks and scattered the rest, which by reports are being efficiently mopped up by other forces." The Prioress summarised. "I've known brilliant commanders who could not do the same. Most would not even consider an attack without at least two Companies of Space Marine or a ten to one advantage. I would have taken the entire Preceptory if I had the chance. You plan was efficient, adaptive and played to the strengths of the force you had. I have had a commendation added to your record. You and your squad have full access to the Convent facilities. If you need anything, the please let me know. Dismissed."

Jen left the Prioress' office and sent the squad off to find bunks, knowing it would not be long before Tona or Neo contacted her with a quest for the Guild. By herself, Jen went to the main Chapel in the Convent. Entering into the columned and spacious interior she made her way down the central passageway, noticing the scattering of other Sisters, mostly Militant but a few Hospitaller, sitting in the pews or kneeling to pray. Jen made her way to an alcove almost level with the alter and knelt before the statue that rested there. The statue was of Saint Katherine, revered as much as the Emperor as Saint Katherine was the first Canoness of the Order and second in command to Alicia Dominica. The Order of Our Martyred Lady had originally been called the Order of the Fiery Heart due to Katherine's temperament, but it had been renamed after Saint Katherine's murder.

As she knelt in front of the Saint, Jen wrestled with the guilt over the deaths she had caused by her decisions and the praise from the Prioress that indicated the battle against the Ork Boss could have easily ended with the entire force, including herself, dead. When she left the Chapel two hours later, she felt that she had no answer to the unspoken question but she did feel a sense of peace that she could not explain.

TBC…


End file.
